An example of such an apparatus and method is known from US 2011/019904. This publication discloses commission of a lighting system. A user can be provided with a pointing device capable of emitting or returning a signal which can be received by detectors co-located with each fixture in the lighting system. The user can add a fixture to a group by aiming the pointing device at the fixture when the fixture is not assigned to the group, and the user can remove a fixture from a group in the same way when the fixture was previously assigned to the group. Such method and apparatus can be used to control a system comprising one or more controllable devices, for example, a controllable domestic appliance, a controllable light source, a heating, cooling and ventilation (HCV) system and or other electronic devices.
The known apparatus can be, for example, a remote controller to commission different controllable domestic appliances or controllable light sources in a system. Thereto the user assigns identification codes to the respective domestic appliances and links the buttons of the remote controller with the respective domestic appliances via the identification codes. In order to use one or more of the domestic appliances in the system, a user can load and an application program (App) on his or her smart phone. and link the smart phone via an internet connection to the system and execute the application program. The application program may further comprise assigning identification codes to the respective domestic appliances and linking (virtual or displayed) buttons of the smart phone to the domestic applications via the identification codes.
Drawbacks of the known method and apparatus are that the assigned buttons and the linked devices can be confusing to the user. For example, in different rooms different numbers can be assigned to the same domestic appliances, or the domestic appliances can be positioned on different positions in the different rooms.